Like many other people I have no trouble speaking, and a great deal of trouble listening. Few human characteristics serve the ego more faithfully than our ability to speak, to talk, to occupy the space between others and us with out noise, our agendas, our thoughts, and if we are honest, often with our emotional needs. One of the writers who helps me to perceive my need of words, talk, speech, that all too seductive facility with words as conduits of thought, and as vocal chess pieces outflanking the other, is Jean Vanier.

I have no hesitation in counting Vanier one of the most remarkable Christian leaders of the past half century. His book Community and Growth is a textbook on courtesy, compassion and presence to the other beyond myself. Courtesy is much more than good manners though it is that – it is respect for the other, communicated by service, deference and a readiness to listen. Compassion is more than emotional feelings of kindness – it is a spirit of welcome, love and acceptance of the other in their need, not as the need meeter, but as one who feels with them, accompanies them and values them for who they are. Presence is precisely what is not given if all we offer are words. Presence is most deeply felt either in silence shared, or in attentiveness to what the other says and who the other is, for it is that attentiveness, such paying of loving attention, that conveys the value and the significance of this other person, in whose presence I am.

Jean Vanier is someone whose presence is unignorable – tall, distinguished, stooped, a face now wrinkled and set in a combination of smiling and thoughtfulness (at least as photographed on the front of the book above. Yet this powerful man, charismatic and accomplished, moves amongst many of the most vulnerable people in our world, and does so with unselfconscious humility, meekness of spirit and a contagious wonder at the miracle and beauty of each human being. In this book of letters he often talks about his own spiritual hopes and disappointments, deeply self-aware and therefore neither exaggerating his guilt nor understating his achievements. His spirit and the spirit he seeks to teach and embody is glimpsed in a couple of sentences as he tells of his inner thoughts while being interviewed for Moscow TV in 1989, at the height of perestroika and glasnost:

"I spoke mainly  of the need for love in each human being, especially in the poorest. I spoke of love which is stronger than hatred, and trust which is stronger than fear. Throughout the interview I tried  to remain in the presence  of God, in order to speak from the depths of my heart, from that place where Jesus lives within me, and thus to speak words from God."

It takes a saint to speak with such innocence of his nearness to God, and for me, Jean Vanier is simply that. An entire pastoral theology of speech and silence could be woven from such comments in this book of letters. A lot of them are more interesting for those interested in the history of L'Arche and the developments of communities for vulnerable people across the world. But in most of them there is wisdom, spiritual reflection, and a humane devotion to others that is so counter-cultural in recession ridden culture, that the values and convictions Vanier espouses and embodies become a powerful witness to the love of God in Jesus Christ.

These selected verses from Ecclesiasticus are amongst my favourite Wisdom texts. They capture exactly for me the importance of good work, diligent and conscientious attention, skill harnessed to creative purpose, and human activity that helps maintain the fabric of the world. The labourers and artisans mentioned here are not politicians, lawyers, academics, consultants, CEO's, movers and shakers – if anything, they are the ones who make sure that life goes on, things are done, necessities are made, and that this activity is every bit as important as professional, financial, and management in the building of community and the provision of what is essential in human life. The passage is really saying that these are people who let their hands do their talking – leaving the talking to those who have time for it!

The photo of Paisley Abbey was taken from the steps of the Town Hall, in  a hurry, during the interval at a concert on a summer evening. There wasn't time to outflank the lamp post or move the parked cars – so it looks like what it is, an 850 year old place of worship plonked right in the middle of the town. It too shows the skill and work of those who maintain the fabric of the world.

 

Maintaining
the Fabric of the World

The wisdom of the scribe comes by opportunity of leisure;  And he that has little business shall become
wise.

How shall he become wise that holds the plough, That glorieth in
the shaft of the goad, That driveth oxen, and is occupied in their labours, And
whose discourse is of the stock of bulls? He will set his heart upon turning
his furrows; And his wakefulness is to give his heifers their fodder.

So is every artificer and workmaster, That passeth his time by night
as by day; They that cut gravings of signets, And his diligence is to make
great variety; He will set his heart to preserve likeness in his portraiture,
And will be wakeful to finish his work.

 So is the smith sitting by the anvil,
And considering the unwrought iron:

The vapor of the fire will waste his flesh; And in the heat of the
furnace will he wrestle with his work: The noise of the hammer will be ever in
his ear, And his eyes are upon the pattern of the vessel; He will set his heart
upon perfecting his works, And he will be wakeful to adorn them perfectly.

So is the potter sitting at his work, And turning the wheel about
with his feet, Who is always anxiously set at his work, And all his handywork
is by number;  He will fashion the clay with his arm, And
will bend its strength in front of his feet; He will apply his heart to finish
the glazing; And he will be wakeful to make clean the furnace.

All these put their trust in their hands; And each becometh wise in
his own work. Without these shall not a city be inhabited, And men shall not
sojourn nor walk up and down therein. They shall not be sought for in the
council of the people, And in the assembly they shall not mount on high; They
shall not sit on the seat of the judge, And they shall not understand the
covenant of judgement: Neither shall they declare instruction and judgement;

But they will maintain the fabric of the world; And in the
handywork of their craft is their prayer.

Ecclesiasticus 38.

The prayer of intercession below was written for our shared worship this morning where I'll be preaching down the coast a bit. (The photo was taken on a sunny day on Inverbervie beach). I guess one of the besetting sins we find it difficult to identify and name is the sin of praying more to our own advantage than to the world's. So it seems to me.In one sense a sin of omission, not praying for others. In another sense a sin of commission, as the self elbows out the needs of a whole world.

Intercession is a de-selfing of prayer, a silencing of our own pushy at times noisy agendas. Compassion is something we feel that only grows towards fruitfulness when it acts. Intercessory prayer is enacted compassion, as important as, and never a substitute for, costly giving, the inconvenience of putting others first, imaginative action that makes a difference and gives love embodied presence.

Put simply, prayer is something we do because we believe in the compassionate mercy and self-giving love that lies at the heart of all reality as the Triune God of Eternal Grace. To not intercede for others, to pray mostly for ourselves, our church our personal spiritual lives, is a failure of compassion; more it is a failure of faith. As if I didn't believe praying for others would make any difference to their lives. Anyway out of such thoughts, comes this prayer. The responses by the congregation are sung, using the familiar praise song.

 

Creator God, Who gives us life,

who gives life to the world,

who loves and cares for all people,

forgive those narrow windows we look through

seeing only our own life,

anxious only for our own needs.

Forgive us our self centred perspectives

our prayers first of all for our own blessing.

Forgive our limited horizons,

thinking first of our
selves, our church, our plans,

at times blind to the beauty and brokenness of your world,

until catastrophe opens our eyes

and make us see a suffering world as you see it,

with determined compassion and redemptive purposes.

 

Be still and know, that I am God  
(x3)

 

Lord widen our windows so see beyond ourselves.

You teach us to look at the world through the eyes of your
love.

Your Spirit pushes back our horizons and opens our
hearts 

to include those far from us, and
different from us,

yet all are yours.

Teach us what love is,

the self-giving that we believe lies at the heart of all
reality,

because you revealed it in Jesus Christ, crucified and
risen. 

 

So as we pray for our broken world;

its wars and conflicts;

the hatreds and the enmities;

all injustices and poverty;

the greed and the waste;

the lost hopes and the growing despairs;

mega-problems that threaten to overwhelm,

disasters that all our technology and resources can’t
fix.

As we pray then, for our broken world,

Where people face famine and disease,

loss of home and the
crushing of freedom,

the fear of war and co nsequences of conflict,

we lift this world you love before you,

the God of all grace
and love,

and ask the blessing of your peace

and the healing of your
mercy,

through Christ who is our mercy and peace,

in the power of the Holy Spirit of life,

Amen

In Thee O Lord, I put my trust (x3)

 

In Thee O Lord, do I put my trust (x3)

When it comes to satellite images of the surface of the earth they are endlessly fascinating and beautiful. Rocky mountains covered in snow, the merging of shade and colour, mostly gray, black, silver and white, a geological kaleidoscope that reflects light and captures shadow. I still remember flying over the alps at about 35,000 feet on our way to Austria, the first time I'd looked down on mountains from  that height, and wondering wide-eyed like a child hungry for experience and explanation.

No wonder mountains play such a role in the Biblical images of majesty, power and permanence. In the Bible either God raises mountains, shakes them, throws them into the sea, speaks from them or dwells on them. Around Zion the mountains symbolise the protection of God.

The two images above are not satellite pictures, and are only distantly related to the Alps, mainly by geological affinity, though that too is a guess. They are close-ups of a 13 centimetre across stone I found on the beach yesterday. Heavy, rough, sparkling, slightly oxidised, and in its way a thing of beauty quite beyond the polished varieties of smooth shiny gee gaws! It is neither objet d'art, nor artefact, it has no therapeutic qualities I know of, its history is millions if not billions of years in the making, how it came to be on the Aberdeen beach and why I noticed it and paid attention – sheer serendipity, random coincidence, juxtaposition of unplanned circumstance. Yes, all of these, maybe.

And then I remember that small gem of a book, Gift from the Sea, by Anne Morrow Lindbergh:

"The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy or too impatient. One should lie open, empty, choiceless as a beach – waiting for a gift from the sea."

And that's all this flat sliver of silver laced stone is, a gift from the sea.

.

In the Celtic Prayer book of the Northumbrian Community, there is an odd couplet from the Hebridean Altars:

Though we prospered little,

yet we were rich in faith and unfearingness

Sometimes the clumsiness of a word gives it a jarring aptitude. Fear is a destabilising word, and an undermining experience. Fearingness is that fear made chronic, a state of apprehensive mind, a continuing anxiety suspicious of reassurance. Unfearingness is the opposite of each of these. Not chronic fear but inner constancy of peace; not an apprehensive mind but one comprehending something of the unchanging love of God in Christ; not suspicious anxiety but confidence born of trust and persuaded that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Unfearingness is what Jesus tried to make the disciples experience when he said to them "Fear not for I have overcome the world". Unfearingness is what isaiah described when he said "When you walk through fire the flames will not harm you, and through the waters the waves shall not overwhelm you." Unfearingness is precisely what is described in Psalm 23, lying down by still waters, led in a pth of righteousness, and goodness and mercy dogging our footsteps every blessed mile we trek.

Unfearingness is to listen to the wisdom of those ancient travellers who were pilgrims to Jerusalem, and who wrote their poems and prayers to the God who, they hoped and trusted, would keep them safe. "The sun shall not smite you by day, nor the moon by night…" The photo was taken on a February evening, frosty, silent and I have to confess not the slightest bit menacing. But then I wasn't trekking hundreds of miles across desert and bandit country, and doing so, not for trade and profit, but to go and worship the God by whose mercy I lived, and in whose covenant love I trusted come hell or high water. What I like about the Psalms is their honesty and unashamed admissions of fear, anger, depression, anxiety – the whole gamut of fearingness – but still, like needles drawn to the magnetic north, they turn to the Lord, in hope and trust, and pray for unfearingness.

This is a word I want to think about for a while – linguistically clumsy, but spiritually and theologically a word bespoke for the heart.

 

In this Psalm Shalom is founded on the majesty and artistry of the Creator. This panel of the tapestry contrasts the vast intricacy of the universe and the small human habitation at the waterside, its light reflected on the water. See the earlier post on the Defeat of Dogma by Understatement for the theological and polemical importance of stars in the Hebrew Bible.

Each of the panel of the tapestry is 9cm by 7cm. What you are seeing is a close-up. The canvas us 24 to the inch guage, and the cotton is six stranded cotton, with the colouts mixed in various combinations of strands – which means endless possibilities of colour and tone.

Psalm 8

⁹ Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

I remember in 1977, reading W D Davies The Setting of the Sermon on the Mount, a comprehensive examination of the background of that radical Kingdom of God manifesto.

A few years later F F Bruce published the fruit of a lifetime's study and immersion in the life and thought of Paul, his theological mentor whom he called 'Apostle of the Free Spirit'. A year or two later E P Sanders' Paul and Palestinian Judaism forced a fundamental rethink of Pauline studies.

In the mid 1980's Bishop John Robinson, of Honest to God fame, completed the draft of his Bampton Lectures which was published posthumously as The Priority of John. Seldom have I read a more theologically sensitive exposition of the passion of Jesus, even if the underlying thesis was brilliantly argued but with few lasting converts.

Early 90's and John Ashton's major study Understanding the Fourth Gospel, (which cost £65 and was paid for by books tokens!) opened another vista on the theological masterpiece attributed to John.

Then I ploughed through N T Wright's The Origins of the People of God, volume 1, published in 1992. It was, and is, a hard read, but it too changed the way I read the New Testament, more fully aware of worldview and cultural norms and codes and social context.

Jesus and the Victory of God moved the discussion to a further level, and once again a massive book compelled new thinking, rewarded careful reading, and takes its place as a milestone in my personal study of the New Testament.

Sometimes commentaries have the same ground-breaking and ground-shifting effects. Ulrich Luz's three volumes on Matthew in the Hermeneia series are such. Beautifully produced, replete with learning long and slowly distilled, ranging across hermeneutical disciplines, developing a particular study of 'effective history', that is the effect of the text on readers throughout history – (different from reception history). They are a joy to use.

And now. News of another gold strike in New Testament studies! SPCK have announced N T Wright, Paul and the Faithfulness of God. Three volumes including the long awaited monograph on Pauline theology, a second volume on Paul's recent interpreters, and a third collecting Wright's most significant and seminal essays over 30 years. You can check this out for yourselves here. Me? I'm saving up!

http://www.logos.com/product/29160/paul-and-the-faithfulness-of-god?utm_source=prepublication&utm_medium=email&utm_content=4343421&utm_campaign=prepub

Amongst other things this blog is a celebration of the book, a conservation area for those who, without despising Kindle, still require as a life necessity, the proximity and availability of books. I await the advent of an e-reader that is as flexible, quick and easy to flick through and back and forth, as a solid reference book. Because some of the most important books are for reference.Thumbing through a reference book is education by serendipity, and the best reference books send you chasing in all directions, to articles and topics you hadn't realised were connected to your first enquiry. A good article in a quality reference book will have cross references to other articles and treatments of similar or related material. Now I guess hyper links and other devices allow a similar cognitive tour on an e-reader but I'm now so incurably attached to those large repositories of print and picture that I'll persist with the dictionary, encyclopedia, companion, handbook, and lexicon in book form.

One such dictionary I use often and am seldom disappointed. The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, published in 1998 by IVP is according to its impressive sub-title "An encyclopedic exploration of the images, symbols, motifs, metaphors, figures of speech and literary patterns of the Bible." While working away at the Shalom tapestry I've consulted it on shepherds and sheep, moon and stars, mountains and rivers, trees and fruit, water and sunshine, cups that run over and my going out and coming in! The literary texture of Scripture is rich and dense, colourful and subversive, the range of its imagery drawing from many cultures, several languages, and centuries of history. The column and a half on stars is an eye opener to those who read biblical, texts with minds as dulled in vision as our eyes as we stand in a brightly lit street and see through a glass obscurely, missing the sheer magnificence and cosmic artistry of a night sky that should rightly reduce our utilitarian view of the world to a humbler respect for that whose vastness renders our self-importance of no intrinsic significance.

Because that's what Psalm 8 is saying. Human beings are made a little lower than the angels, because the Lord God made it so, not because we made ourselves so. Street lights are themselves metaphors for illuminated blindness, artificial light that obscures the billions of divinely appointed lights for the universe. Fanciful? Come on, stop being a literalist – the great Psalm poet wrote, "God determines the number of the stars; he gives to each of them their name"(147.4). In a world awash with astrological predictions, stellar worship and fear of the astral forces that fix human destiny, the psalmist upsets the game board and announces that the God of Israel, far from being subject to the whims and fates of the stars, is the one by whom they exist, the one whom they serve, and the one who gives each star its name – naming being a fundamental act of ownership. And yes, in the creation narrative of Genesis 1, as a fatal deflation of Babylonian arrogance and astrological controls, the writer says in a devastating parenthesis at the end of the story of the creation of earth and heaven, "he made the stars also". I don't know anywhere in all literature a more comprehensive defeat of dogma by understatement. 

All of this from a dictionary. Love them!